Butterflies: Nature's Mutant
by RowlettLesbian
Summary: Cho Uchiha loves butterflies. Also spiders, and worms, and beetles, and ants, and bees, and squirrels, and bears, and birds, and trees, and dirt, and mushrooms, and... Cho spends as much time as possible away from the Uchiha compound, exploring the forests and writing about the amazing creatures that live there. So she's fairly surprised when she comes back to find her clan dead.
1. Chapter 1

Cho walked out of the woods victorious, swinging her legs out with each step of her tough leather boots and holding onto the straps of her backpack with a happy grin. On this camping expedition, she'd found multiple wasp nests, an empty bird's nest, marmots, a bear, and several sets of courting squirrels. And that was just what she took the time to conduct a behavioral observation on. Her population counts for this week stretched almost to the Forest of Death, and she'd figured out how to use a plumbob to get even more accurate coordinates for each sighting. Soon, she'd have enough comparative data to begin studying the so adorably named 'Forest of Death' against a less chakra-infused baseline.

As she hoisted herself by sure hand and steady foot over the rotten, worn down fence at this edge of the Uchiha land, Cho giggled lightly. If she was lucky, her relatives wouldn't even spot her and she could get to her hidden treehouse unimpeded by the short-sighted ideology of her clan. No one here recognized her vision, always so obsessed with her failure to become a human weapon, a domesticated predator. She was not that sort of animal, no matter how many times her relatives nagged her to aspire towards Itachi-san's ideal. This fence was like her marker for the divide between herself and the other Uchiha. Her relatives would not want her to jump over it, would not want her to explore the wondrous world out there. Yet all they could do to stop her was put up a few flimsy, ancient pieces of splintered yellow wood and fail to realize how moss and pollen were slowly reclaiming the border.

As she reached the top of the fence, Cho moved some chakra into her palms to help her stick to the smooth wood until she'd swung both her legs over. Then, she let herself fall back, twirling head-over-heels once only, and landing on the forest floor with a chakra-cushioned thud.

She'd give one thing to the shinobi arts, they made her work so much easier. She'd never have reached that bird nest if she couldn't walk up trees.

Cho turned back to face the compound and took up her stride once again. She hated running anywhere, and her well-practiced hiker's step proved it. She could feel more dirt beneath her boots, see the things around her, breathe in more air. Rushing about just interrupted her connection to her forest. And really, she was in no rush to get home. If she could she'd resupply, write up her notes, get to the library, and be gone again by the end of the week. She may be ten, but she needed no one!

Cho reached the tiny trail down the hill that she'd adapted from a deer-trail some five summers ago when she'd first begun her studies. It was barely a path, so full it was with bushes and ferns and tree roots. That's what made it perfect. Cho took off her backpack and put it back on backwards, so that it hung onto her belly like a baby skunk clinging to its mom. Then she plopped onto all fours and gently crawled through the tiny tunnel marked only by the hairsbreadth of space where she could squeeze through the branches. This was her self-made portal to and from a more fascinating, beautiful world. Every fifty meters or so she would come across a sharp turn, sending her back the way she came at an ever subtle incline, and this way she safely plodded down the steep, forested hill. The sun filtering through the leaves dripped over her face in little splotches, and she made a game of planting her dirty, cracked palms into the golden puddles as she crawled down the slope.

She reached the bottom in, based on the shadows, near abouts an hour. The first few houses of the compound were just in sight at the forest's edge. Her 'house' was a bit further South, as far as could get from the main house. Her Okaa-san always complained about that, how Uchiha-sama didn't even know their family existed and how Otou-san needed to work harder on the police force to gain status for their little unit. Cho stuck out her tongue and made a 'bleg' sound. It melded well with the wind-rustle and bird-chirps. Her 'bleg's were a hybridization of several animal calls she'd learned. They were much less obtrusive than human-yelps.

Cho frowned as she reached the tree edge. Given it was such an annoying sound, she'd expected to hear some human-yelps by now. But the compound sounded more like nature than like the bustling suburb it usually was. Except, it was too quiet for nature. It sounded like nature when something big was coming. Or when a human was coming.

Cho broke into a run, and then dove into a bush as soon as she saw the nearest house close-up. It was spattered with blood. The windows were shattered, the door hanging open and creaking with the wind. Cho stayed still in her bush, keeping as quiet as a fawn on the forest floor. Several minutes passed with nothing appearing, nothing happening. The blood looked days old. Every so carefully, every muscle tensed to run, Cho slipped out of the bush without making a sound. She crept forward down the alley and peered around the corner to observe the row of houses.

They were all the same. Shattered eggshells, bloodied in a way that screamed egg-eater. Something, something almost certainly human, had come here and cracked open the Uchiha homes and devoured the people inside.

Cho was just readying to crawl under the nearest porch and make her way towards Konoha when a massive hand scruffed her like a kitten, dangling her in the air. She squeaked violently, grabbing her knife and swinging it up at the arm while simultaneously using her other hand to try and get another knife into the man's gut. The hand clenched down and did something that rattled Cho from top to bottom, and the knives clattered to the ground.

"Identify yourself," ground out an entirely neutral voice. It sounded off, somehow, like she was listening to it from through a bag of rocks. The hand shook her a bit and she sucked in as deep of a breath as she could.

"Ch-Cho Uchiha!" she gasped out. The hand immediately dropped her and resisting the urge to flop over and see the man, and thus revealing her soft underbelly, she scittered towards the gap between porch and ground which may just get her out of the much larger human's reach. She didn't make it even a step before that massive, gloved hand caught her arm and pulled her upright to face him.

He was tall, at least six feet, with puffy gray hair and an ANBU mask painted with carnivorous, possibly canine features. Cho startled when, rather than ripping her arm off, he knelt down in front of her so that he was only a little taller than her rather than almost twice as tall.

"Where have you been for the past six days?" he asked in a monotone. His body language, however, was radiating calm. His shoulders were down, his tummy breathing instead of his chest, and his butt was resting a little on his heel. Cho felt herself relaxing in response.

"I was camping. I run away from my parents a lot to go play in the woods outside the property. I left last Tuesday. What…what was here? Did it eat everybody? Who got away?"

The man sighed. "I am not authorized to explain. I will take you to the Hokage." Then, the world was blurring around her and seconds later she was standing in a weird circular room made of clean yellow wood, standing in front of a desk with a very old man sitting behind it in the Hokage robe, and surrounded by more masked ANBU. The old man sat up and dropped his smoking pipe.

"Inu?" he said, "what is the meaning of this? Who-" he stopped short as he looked her over. He lingered a lot on her eyes, which made her shuffle a bit. "What is your name, young lady?" he asked more calmly.

"Cho Uchiha, Hokage-sama," she replied. She really really hoped she wasn't in trouble. The masked people in the room twitched slightly, and the Hokage himself winced and leaned forward.

"Inu, report," he said.

"During a routine patrol of the Uchiha compound, I sensed a small chakra signature at the Northeastern edge of the property. Upon investigation I located the girl behind a house. I captured the intruder and requested her identity. She identified herself as 'Cho Uchiha'. I released the target, then recaptured her when she attempted escape. Upon requesting her whereabouts for the last six days she responded that she has been camping in the woods north of the compound, unsupervised and without permission, for the last eight days. She did not resist after this point. Her questions indicate she was entirely unaware of the situation." Inu gave his report without letting go of her arm, and so Cho wriggled slightly hoping to be released. The hand unclenched and she slipped away to walk forward towards the desk.

"Hokage-sama," she said with her back straight and her fists clenched, chin up and shoulders back, "there was blood all over the place and it was days old. Also the compound was way too quiet. Where is everybody, and what attacked them?" The Hokage puffed up for a moment, then abruptly sagged. He reached for his pipe and puffed on it for a few moments. Cho enviously watched the smoke curl.

"Cho-chan," he started, trailing off to take a few more puffs, "I am terribly sorry to inform you that the Uchiha clan has been massacred. As of six days ago the only survivors are Sasuke Uchiha, the perpetrator Itachi Uchiha, now a missing-nin, and as of today, you. Now," he shuffled some papers, "beyond your existence and presumed death, we do not have any files regarding you. May I ask you a few questions, Cho-chan?"

Cho was reeling. The clan heir, the idol, Itachi-san, had murdered everyone except for his younger brother. And she had escaped by chance. She mutely nodded, numb as the Hokage made a gesture off to his side and one of the masked Shinobi brought her a chair. She mumbled a quick thanks and sat down. Then she stood back up, removed her pack, and plopped it onto the ground with her leg hooked through one strap before sitting down again. Her pack left a smudge of dirt on the floor.

"How old are you, Cho-chan?" asked the Hokage.

"Ten. My birthday was a few weeks ago." The Hokage frowned and glanced at one of the masked Shinobi by the window who jumped out into the night and vanished.

"And who were your parents?"

"Masashi and Hanako Uchiha. Okaa-san was Otou-san's fourth cousin twice removed or something." The Hokage nodded and made a quick note.

"School?"

"Homeschooled. I refused to go to the academy." At this, the Hokage looked up and frowned.

"Why is that, Cho-chan?" He glanced back at Inu-san when he spoke, and Cho turned around to see Inu-san holding her two lost knives up for the Hokage to see.

"I got bored sitting at a desk all day. Being out in the forest is better." She shrugged as she said this, then leaned down to open up her pack. Inu-san walked forward and leaned over her shoulder as she carefully removed a little clear plastic tank from inside next to her canteen. "This expedition, I found this abandoned bird nest with the egg shells still inside, see?" She brandished the little tank at the Hokage who hummed and looked it over with a single raised eyebrow. "Otou-san and Okaa-san were mad about me, so I, um, just left as much as possible. They don't like bugs or dirt or exploring. They just wanted me to be clean and good at Shinobi-stuff, so they decided to homeschool me so that when I didn't pay attention they could punish me better." She frowned down at her bird's nest. "I dunno if I can get enough food on my own to camp all the time, now that they're gone. Especially since I'll have to feed Sasuke-san too."

For the first time this meeting, the Hokage smiled. "Sasuke?" he asked.

Cho frowned. "Yeah. He's two years littler than me, so I've got to make sure he has food and water and shelter and is safe from predators. That's what mammals do, Hokage-sama." She thought it was very odd that the leader of the whole village didn't know that, considering he, too, was a mammal.

"Hmm," he said with a smile, "don't you think you could help your cousin better if you attended the academy? A shinobi, no matter how skilled, would have no trouble fulfilling those needs. And until you've graduated, well, you will qualify for government aid if you're attending school."

Cho thought it over for a long moment. With the situation…as it was, outside of school hours she could do whatever she wanted. And this really did seem like the best option for adequately taking over leadership of an, albeit small, family unit.

"Ok," she said with a vigorous nod, "I'll attend the academy and graduate by the end of the school year. Now take me to Sasuke-san, please."

* * *

Cho Uchiha was a punch in the gut for everyone involved. Kakashi half wished she'd just stayed lost in the woods that were clearly her element. The tiny little brat had showed up out of nowhere, covered in dirt and with leaves in her hair, babbling about birds and dressed painfully like a civilian. And then she'd told them her age and Kakashi knew that this was going to be a disaster. Because Sasuke was already chomping at the bit for revenge, ready to take on the mantle of his dead family as the new Clan head, the lone Uchiha. Only now, a feral, untrained little girl was going to be clan head instead of him based solely on an extra two years of life. Kakashi nearly chuckled. The only way Sasuke would see that power in his own hands was if he married her or she died.

The Hokage had instantly seen what Kakashi had, befitting of the Professor. The girl was pure Uchiha and everyone in the room could practically smell it. If they ignored the smell of dirt and dirty child. She had the black hair, black eyes, porcelain skin under all that dirt, and flawless symmetry. Sasuke had already been in high demand as a doujutsu stud, but now that there was a 'controllable' girl on the table? Kakashi sighed. That little brat just became the single most valuable, marriagable preteen in Konoha, and she hadn't brushed her hair in possibly her entire life. Kakashi was thrilled to watch that courting process.

On another cheery note, Kakashi was going to cherish seeing the Hokage looking so flabbergasted for a long time. To say nothing of his fellow ANBU who had actually twitched. Not that he could talk, he'd accidentally dropped the girl when she'd called herself 'Uchiha'. No one else needed to know that, though. She was just so tiny and undisciplined it was hard to look at her. He'd been there to help clean up the bodies. Girls only slightly bigger or smaller than her. Itachi had not distinguished in his killing methods. The Uchiha were so much easier to let go before one had, essentially, come back to life. Alive and vivacious and dirty and confused. When Kakashi had heard her name herself, for a long moment he thought he'd finally cracked. That the girl would turn around to reveal a corpse that had dug its way out of the ground, slashed open from ear to ear and screaming for vengeance or mercy.

So Kakashi could not help but be thankful that she was alive. She really had no idea just what a miracle she truly was, to have survived the breaking of Itachi's genius merely by virtue of being the least Uchiha-like Uchiha he'd ever met. Considering he'd known Obito, that was saying something.

'Obito would have loved her,' he thought wistfully. That alone was enough to motivate Kakashi to protect her. There was also the slim, silly hope that she'd legitimately help Sasuke. Whatever the boy wanted to choose, to do with his future, he wasn't alone anymore. And nothing Sasuke could do would change that.

Others, on the other hand, could change that very easily if they decided to make Cho into an easy target. That was the only reason he had not protested against the Hokage's manipulation. Everyone in the room knew the Uchiha were rich enough not to need orphan welfare. But, if she became a genin, then she'd be given to Kakashi as the last Sharingan wielder left in Konoha. Once she was on his team, he'd do everything to keep her alive. And with his reputation, everyone would know what they would be facing if they tried to take another team from Kakashi no Sharingan.

* * *

Itachi, out in the wilderness steadily trecking away from Konoha reached up a single arm as a crow alighted upon the offered perch.

The crow leaned into his ear and whispered, giving over the usual Hokage's report before vanishing in a cloud of chakra.

For a moment, Itachi stood still. Then he slowly lowered his arm and looked down to the ground.

"FUCK!"

Throughout the surrounding woods, many birds, none of them crows, flew up out of their trees and away from the very ruffled missing-nin.


	2. Chapter 2

The Anbu guy shunshined her straight to the hospital.

Cho had never been here before, but wow, she sure hated it. It smelled worse than death. As in, compared to the smell of a corpse, this building reeked of things which would, easily, kill her. Just breathing was caustic.

"Cuh-blaaahg," she gargled, and then she went ahead and spat on the floor. The Anbu next to her, some sort of bird, turned to look down towards her. They stood there for a moment, and then the Anbu wordlessly turned away and walked in through the door in front of them. Cho followed, running her sleeve under her nose and snorting.

Inside, a tiny boy was marooned at the center of a white, smooth metallic bed. His hair was the exact same shade as hers, if a bit shorter, and his eyes, too, looked just like hers. He looked healthy enough, which was pleasing to Cho. If he was sick she'd have to work much harder to procure medicine for him along with food, water, and shelter. With him healthy, she should manage to entertain him and contribute to his growth as an individual with a lot less hassle.

Honestly, seeing an Uchiha was surreal. After all, if Sasuke-san was alive, how was she supposed to believe the rest were dead? She was as close to this little boy as she was to anyone other than her parents, and suddenly he was the most important person in her life. And she despised her parents! Had despised. Now, he was her responsibility. Without the Uchiha clan there for her to be different from, for her to escape from, for her to belong to anyways, this little boy and her responsibility to him was the only connection she had to her species. If he was gone, then, then she might as well not be human.

Sasuke-san was staring at her even as she stared at him. Cho was fairly sure her face had not changed, but Sasuke-san, his eyes were watering, his lip was shaking, everything about him seemed suddenly brittle. His eyes caught hers. He looked terrified.

"Sasuke-san," said the bird guy, "we have uncovered a surviving Uchiha relative who has not been implicated in the Massacre. As your senior, she is now the head of your clan. Congratulations." Cho glared up at the bird guy. This rude man, he actually just said congratulations to her ward. To his face. Cho glimpsed out of the corner of her eye as Sasuke-san began to somewhat inflate and flush red all over. Cho scowled and, before she could think and prepare and, therefore, advertise her intentions, she kicked the rude bird man in the shin.

The Anbu didn't have so much as the courtesy to flinch.

"Rude," she hissed up at him, "get out! This is a family matter, now, so buzz off!" The Anbu was gone before Cho could blink, and so she huffed, whipped around, and slammed the door shut as hard as she dared. Then, she was alone in the room with Sasuke-san.

Cho turned slowly, and kept as many muscles in her body relaxed as she could. When facing a bear, and fear, or anger, or joy, anything other than calm could set it off. So Cho would just treat Sasuke-san like a bear and hope for the best.

Sasuke-san had his knees drawn up and clutched to his chest. He was pinning her with his eyes, like a dog so scared it couldn't think of anything to do but bite. Cho grimaced and pulled off her backpack.

"I've been in the woods for eight days. I just got back an hour ago. Do you, um, do you know who I am at all? Because I'm not, uh, around a lot." Cho shrugged and scrubbed a hands through her hair. A twig fell out onto the white tiles. Sasuke-san watched it fall. Mutely, he shook his head. "I'm Cho. My parents are- um, were? Were… were Masashi and Hanako Uchiha." Cho walked forward to the bed and hopped up to sit on the edge. Brown dirt and a few green leaves fell off of her onto the stark white blanket. Sasuke's head jerked back up and he was back to glaring at her.

"You're not going to get in my way," he snarled. Spit flew from his lips and Cho idly evaluated her ward's hygiene. "I'm going to kill my brother. You're not, you shouldn't even be alive. Just because the papers say you're clan head doesn't mean anything to me. I don't need you!" He was screaming by the end. The white blanket was scrunched between his little fists. Cho smiled and leaned towards Sasuke with her teeth bared.

"Good."

"Hn?" Sasuke's face untwisted and he looked at her with all of his fear unshielded by anger for the first time since she'd come inside.

"Ha!" she laughed, "you're still alive! That anger, that's good. I want you alive and kicking, for as long as possible. You're the only human I know, or even care about. So, I'm going to make sure you're fed, and watered, and have shelter, and we're going to work together to survive. Seeing as Itachi seems to have a thing for killing Uchihas, you killing him can only be a good thing. So, I accept your deal. I shouldn't be alive, the clan head position means shit given it's just us, and you don't need me at all. But I need you. So I'm going to everything I possibly can to keep you alive. Because that's what humans are supposed to do. So I'll help you to kill your brother, and in return, you let me keep you alive and close." Sasuke-san grit his teeth and snarled at her. Cho snarled back, and Sasuke-san immediately went silent and cringed back, watching her like she was a massive predator.

"This has nothing to do with you." Cho huffed and jerked forward. Sasuke-san yelped and tried to throw her off, but she already had a fistful of his hair and was up close to stare him in the eyes.

"Don't care. Cats, humans think they're solitary creatures but they're not. They hunt for each other, protect each other, stay close and warm. Cats stay with their family. You're mine. Even if you didn't know me, or my name, I bet you know of me. Did your family ever complain about that 'feral girl who always gone'?"

Sasuke nodded, and Cho absentmindedly let go of his hair. "You're the feral girl? But," Sasuke paused to squint at her, "they said you were silly, that you would grow out of…of running around in the woods? What do you even do? Why weren't you there?" Ah. Cho figured this was the real sticking point. Everyone Sasuke knew was dead, except her. He'd have to be made of stone not to resent that she of all Uchiha got away. Cho huffed and relaxed her shoulders she hadn't even noticed tensing.

"I got lucky. I'm not any better, I'm actually pretty much worse than any other Uchiha. But, just because I can't be a great wife, or a great Shinobi, I can still be a great scientist. And, I can try my best to be better at being your family. I'm not, I'm not replacing anybody. We've always been family. We just don't know each other very well yet. So, you should know, about me, that the only reason I'm not walking out into the woods to die of starvation or disease doing what I love, is because you are here and I need to help you. Even if you don't need my help, I need to help you. I'm alive, because of luck, and I can't waste that. I just can't. So you're welcome to yell at me for a little while, when everything is still so shitty, but eventually I'm going to start treating you like my cousin and kicking your ass when you annoy me." Cho took a deep breath and let it out in a big whoosh. She smiled at Sasuke, stubborn and unwavering, even as Sasuke's eyes went watery and spilled over his cheeks.

"F-f!" he sputtered, "Fuck you! Why are you alive! You should be dead! You're just gonna die anyways! I don't want you here I hate you I hate you why are you alive instead of Kaa-chan! Why did you even come back, huh!? You don't even know me, you don't know what happened, you don't understand anything! I hate you! I hate you! I would've been better off alone! I hate yaaa-" Sasuke trailed off into incoherent screaming and Cho leaned forward and yanked his face against her stomach. Sasuke didn't resist. He just flopped forward and screamed against her dirty, muddy jacket, getting it even wetter and snottier than it already was. His little fingers dug into her back and her spine, and she was certain she'd be bruised by tomorrow. His screams were the worst thing she'd ever heard. So, Cho picked a deep note and started humming, steady and even, like a cat purring. She just hummed that single, atonal note through her belly were Sasuke would feel it against his cheeks as he screamed and cried. Her hands, she rested solidly against his shoulder blades. They stuck out of his back like duckling wings.

The two stayed that way until Sasuke, and then Cho, fell asleep covered in dirt and snot.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke was a weird kid.

That very morning, the hospital had released Sasuke into Cho's care. The kiddo hadn't said a world all day, but Cho wasn't exactly chatty either. No, they'd walked together in silence, and Cho was just glad she hadn't needed to scruff the little beast to keep him from running off. She didn't trust one bit that Itachi wouldn't come back for them, and she wasn't going to let Sasuke out of her sight.

Now, it was mid afternoon, and Cho was staring at the house Sasuke had vanished into in absolute confusion.

Of all the cracked-egg houses, this one seemed the worst. It wasn't the biggest, or bloodiest, or most broken, no. What is was, was the most isolated. All the empty space around the house made Cho nervous just to contemplate. There might as well have been a massive target on the front door!

Cho sniffed, deep and silent, before trotting forward to the nearest window. The window itself was broken, but it was also open and so Cho managed to crawl up the wall and shimmy through without cutting herself on any shards. On the other side she let herself fall to the floorboards on silent toes. Honestly, being quiet was so painfully easy in a place without any dried leaves or twigs on the ground.

Inside, the house wasn't any better. Smears of blood pulled across the ground reminded Cho vividly of her own hunts, of massive carcasses she'd been forced to let drag across the ground before she'd gained a few extra inches in height. The blood was old, though, brown and crusted. Old meant it wasn't Sasuke's, so Cho remained relaxed and wandered through into the house proper.

In the center of a plain, square room with an open balcony Sasuke was laid spread-eagle on his back. His fragile bird chest was rising and falling roughly in time with Cho's. Otherwise, he was still. Even his eyes remained closed. Yet, Cho was certain from his breath that he was not asleep.

"Sasuke," she called. Immediately, the kiddo jolted upright and whipped around to face her. His face was pale around his wide black eyes. Cho was reminded of the fear of infant carnivores cornered by larger predators. Perhaps, Cho thought, she should call him something different. After all, if she was the only one to call him by a name he'd always know that it was her who was calling him. He had no reason to be scared of her. She was the only one, really, she trusted not to try to kill him.

As Cho stared, Sasuke's face had twisted into a tiny snarl. "What!?" he snapped. Cho raised an eyebrow and stalked forward, swaying her shoulders beneath a rigid neck in the manner of a creature well prepared to bite.

"Little bird," she tried again. Sasuke frowned, but rather than fear covered by anger, now Cho saw annoyance covered by anger. Much better. "Why are you in here? This is the worst place in the compound to bed down for the night. You couldn't have picked a worse place. I don't want to stay here." Without missing a beat, Sasuke flopped back over and turned his head away.

"Then leave," he said. Cho frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"No." That was the only warning she provided before she launched herself towards her dumb kin.

Sasuke put up a good fight, shoving his hindlegs into her gut and punching towards her sternum and face, but Cho had won before he even reacted. Before he could even yelp, she had him pinned beneath her superior weight and smothered under the warmth of her slightly larger form.

"Gerofmrrrr!" came the muffled protest from somewhere beneath Cho's right shoulder. Sasuke's flailing was just pathetic, at this point, so Cho utilized that magical technique of cats and older siblings and let out a big whoosh of air. Instantly, she became several times heavier on top of her baby cousin.

Sasuke squealed. Cho couldn't hear it well because it was muffled by, well, her.

"We're not staying here," she said calmly to the room at large. Beneath her, Sasuke slowed in his struggles. "I can't protect us well, here, and there's no good food. All my stuff is in my den, and no one knows where my den is, so it's perfect. Also it's warmer and has less blood stains. So get your stuff and we'll get out of here. If you keep me up after dark I'm gonna bite you."

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, in a flat whine, Sasuke said into shoulder "Uuuugh, why are you so weird!?" It took a moment for Cho to parse Sasuke's words. Seriously, he thought she was weird?

Cho broke out into huffing little giggles. They made her, and thus Sasuke, vibrate. After a moment, Cho could have sworn she felt vibrations coming from Sasuke as well.

"Get your stuff," she said bemusedly. Then, she rolled to the side and idly batted away the swat Sasuke aimed at her momentarily exposed belly. "I will bite you," she continued through a laugh.

"I know," Sasuke mumbled. Then, he stalked away with hunched shoulders and a funny scowl barely stretched over an air of mirth.

Cho really didn't know who he thought he was fooling. She could tell, Sasuke was a real bright and silly little guy. She wondered what it would be like, living with someone so unabashedly cheerful.

* * *

Throughout the surrounding forests, many a tree or rock had been co-opted by Cho as a small storage site and camp. These were her dens. After many a trip in which she'd ripped open her jacket or lost her water bottle, she'd learned it was best to be more prepared. Also, having an excess of way-stations meant she could go much, much longer without coming back to the compound.

The most important of her dens, though, was the sole den she'd made on the Uchiha grounds. It had been years since Cho's parents had begun searching her space, confiscating her belongings, doing everything in their power to trap her within their thin and unnatural home. The den was her answer to their transgressions. Her journals, her few treasures, the food she could not risk attracting animals, each was safe thanks to being just close enough to humans to cause fear in curious beasts, yet just far enough to be unknown to all but herself.

The den was near to the base of the hill she most often used to enter and exit the woods. Dug beneath a great Konoha tree, she'd lacquered the packed dirt between the roots with the waxes and spit of insects she'd found in the towers to the Southeast. She'd come across them nearly two years ago, these colonies of not-wasps that built up grand pillars of dirt which were almost like anthills, yet were shiny and nearly sheer vertical up to far above Cho's head. The construction of these towers was done with liquid secretions that varied by species. Cho had studied them each for months until she found a colony with some building supplies to spare.

And so, the outside of Cho's den looked like nothing so much as a foxhole. Inside, her den was solid and warm, constructed of light brown dirts around dark brown roots, and layered with boxes of supplies, shelves of books, and piles of blankets and tarps. The den collected water, light, and heat in near equal measure to her need for each. It would take some adjustment, but Cho was certain that within the week she could tweak the den to provide in excess for Sasuke as well.

"Aaah," she sighed. Exhaustion was dogging her steps, now. She quickly threw her pack inside ahead of her before crawling down into the tunnel home.

"No." When Sasuke spoke, Cho turned around and poked her head up and out into the open air. Sasuke was glaring down at her with crossed arms. Cho raised an eyebrow at him.

"No?" she asked. Sasuke shuffled back a step.

"It's a hole," he said. "In the ground. This is ridiculous. I'm going back to the house."

Cho sighed. This was reminding her unpleasantly of why she'd avoided her family the entire rest of her life. So, she shot out a quick hand, grabbed Sasuke's ankle, and yanked.

Sasuke's shrieks were obviously going to be something Cho needed to get used to. He really did carry on.

With Sasuke inside of their den, Cho made herself busy scooting a chair away from her futon to make room for a second one to be rolled out. She hummed idly. Sasuke should probably sleep in the futon next to the wall. That way she'd be the first line of defense. They'd both have the window by their head, but it was small enough Cho wasn't too worried about an intruder over the age of twelve.

"Cho."

Sasuke's voice shook her from her thoughts and she raised her head to look him over. Sasuke wasn't looking at her. Rather, he was slowly pacing the perimeter of the room, running a finger over the shelves and tables, staring up at the lines strung across the ceiling that Cho used to dry her herbs.

"Did you want some mint?" she asked. Her mint bundle was above his head, and Sasuke was eyeing it like he'd never seen a plant before. Cho made a note to keep an eye on Sasuke's dental hygiene.

"Who made this place?" said Sasuke, ignoring her own question. Cho shrugged and turned back to shaking out the extra futon.

"Me, duh. This is your bed. I'll set up some storage for your things, just pick some spots. None of my stuff will break unless it's on a top shelf. Don't touch the stuff on the top shelves." The sun was setting outside, and so a horizontal shaft of light was beaming through her den to light the entire space. Sasuke was standing across the light from her. His eyes were dark, and his mouth slightly parted. He looked a little lost.

"How?" he asked her. Cho considered for a moment, then walked over to her own futon, now moved away from the wall to bracket in Sasuke's, and flopped over onto it.

"Digging. A bit of dumpster diving. Some small jutsus I got in the civilian library."

"No," said Sasuke, slowly shaking his head. "the civilian section doesn't have any jutsus. You have to be a student, at least." Cho flapped a hand at him and blinked long and slow.

"That's just for big jutsus. The small ones, like packing dirt tighter or drying wood are just there in the back gathering dust. I think the librarians forgot about them."

"Hn." Apparently satisfied, Sasuke dropped his bag and shuffled over to the food shelf. Seeing he was warm, and had access to food and bedding and aid, Cho rolled over to face away from the fading light.

As she fell asleep, Cho thought she might feel vibrations coming from her remaining family, although whether it was laughter or otherwise she was not awake long enough to check.

* * *

Sasuke POV

"We're going shopping."

"Uh," said Cho in reply, "for what?"

From her spot lounging in the sunlit grass, Cho was staring over at him with her usual heavy-lidded eyes. It made Sasuke feel as though she was just humoring him. He hadn't realized it was possible for anyone to be so inhumanly annoying until meeting her, and he knew Sakura Haruno, so that was saying something. Somehow, he was stuck with the one Uchiha that was actually too annoying to die.

Still, he wasn't going to just send her off. She was family. And, oddly, her attention was…not detrimental. It was very focused. On him. Not even Itach-

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek.

Cho spent a lot of time worrying about him, and she was so blunt and aggressive about it that he couldn't really avoid the knowledge that she cared about him. One thing to be said for Cho, he never was left wondering what she thought.

It was just that all of her thoughts were weird.

"You need Shinobi clothes. For the academy," he answered. Cho just frowned at him, as if he was speaking in riddles or something.

"I have clothes. I'm wearing them."

Sasuke glared down at Cho's torso. The maniac was wearing her massive, graying jacket over a sports bra and shorts. That was it. When Sasuke had first seen, he'd covered his eyes and yelled at her to, please, cover up. She'd just huffed at him about sun-vitamins or something and wandered off. Sasuke had been tempted to dress her by force, only to flash back on the nightmare that was the last time he'd tried to challenge Cho.

He'd just wanted to train. That was it. He had goals, damn it, and she'd promised not to get in his way! So yesterday, when she'd stopped him after an hour of practice, he'd nearly taken off her head. The maniac had just laughed, then informed him that he needed to rest or else he'd break something. She'd implied he was weak. Just like him. And so Sasuke had thrown himself at her, kunai ready, blindly furious and determined to let this stupid civilian girl know why she was not in charge.

Somehow, Sasuke had ended up flat on his back in less than a moment. Cho had sat on his chest, knees on his hands, and shins over his legs. All he could move was his head. He'd opened his mouth to screech at her, just in time for her to lean over and drool right. Over. His. Face! A massive stringy blob oozed from her disgusting maw and it just dangled there inches above his eyes, quivering with her laughter, and Sasuke had been held there for what felt like hours as she'd slurped it back up and then let it ooze back out over and over until he, Sasuke, head of his class, child of the Main House, had begged for mercy.

As soon as he'd begged, she'd let it fall. Right up his nose.

Training had immediately taken second priority to chasing her down and murdering her.

He had failed, unfortunately, and they'd returned to the den where she'd cooked him an odd, very meat-based meal on an open flame. It was nothing like his-

It wasn't anything fancy, or anything like he'd eaten before. It was wild. But it wasn't bad.

The conclusion Sasuke had drawn from these events was that Cho was useful to him. She also was his only remaining family. So annoying that she could only possibly be family. As his family, he needed to keep her around and keep her, well, intact. And Cho was the least prepared person for modern life in Konoha he'd ever met. And he knew Naruto. So, his final conclusion was such:

He was going to drag her kicking and screaming into civilization if it was his last act.

…other than revenge on his brother, of course.

His first step was to ensure she would not humiliate him by association at first glance. That meant clothes and a haircut. And a hairbrush. And, if possible, something to stop her from smiling like some sort of feral cat.

The things Sasuke did for family.

Still.

She wasn't bad.

"Why can't I just go through the closets in the clan houses for clothes? They're free."

Never mind. Sasuke was going to kill her.


End file.
